Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed SSE’s Dogger Bank Wind Farm as central to the UK’s power future as he visited the North East of England today.
Mr Johnson joined SSE Chief Executive Alistair Phillips-Davies for a tour of the testing facility for the wind farm’s 260-metre-high turbines, which in a single turn, will generate enough energy to energise a UK home for two days.
During the visit UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said Dogger Bank Wind Farm would bring high quality jobs and investment and drive economic recovery. With a focus on skills and opportunities for young people he said the site was central to the UK’s power future, generating jobs and growth for years to come.
"I’ve visited the extraordinary testing facility for wind turbines in Blyth, where I’ve been learning about the fantastic Dogger Bank Wind Farm being developed by SSE.
Boris Johnston UK Prime Minister
“I’d congratulate them on what they’re achieving. It’s already the biggest in the world, and we in the UK Government want to expand on that, we want to help SSE to make it even bigger.
“We want to have every home in the UK powered by clean, renewable wind energy by 2030. Dogger Bank is already bringing high quality, high skilled jobs to the north east, giving people the pride and satisfaction of knowing they’re not only helping to allow the UK to meet its net zero carbon targets, but also doing something to make the planet cleaner for generations to come."
The Prime Minister saw for himself the scale of the giant blades that will power Dogger Bank – which will be the world’s biggest offshore wind farm when it’s completed in March 2026.
SSE is building the first two phases of the project with partners Equinor and Eni and is leading on the development and construction of the 190-turbine array.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE Chief Executive, said: “Dogger Bank epitomises the best of the UK; bold ambition, engineering brilliance and cutting-edge technology being put to work to deliver a cleaner, greener future.
“This project has been 10 years in the making and the Prime Minister has seen for himself the staggering scale of the components which will be erected over 120km off the Yorkshire coast.
“Dogger Bank is a beacon in the economic recovery from coronavirus; we’re building the biggest offshore wind farm in the biggest offshore wind market in the world. Delivering jobs, delivering investment and delivering on SSE and the UK’s net-zero ambitions.”
Off the east coast of Yorkshire, the wind farm is being constructed in three phases, each with a generation capacity of 1,200MW. In total, it will produce enough clean, renewable energy to supply 5% of the UK’s demand.
Dogger Bank has created 320 new skilled jobs in the North East with more to come as construction ramps up across 2021.
UK businesses are already benefiting from contract wins including Able Seaton Port in Hartlepool, Port of Tyne and Welsh based Jones Bros who will install the onshore cable infrastructure.
Alongside Dogger Bank, SSE is also constructing Seagreen offshore wind farm which will be Scotland’s largest on completion and Viking wind farm which will be the UK’s most productive onshore wind farm. Together these flagship projects will support SSE’s goal of trebling its renewable energy output by 2030 to support net zero.
SSE is a key partner to the UK Government on COP26 and has set its own ambitious targets to reduce its carbon emissions by 60% by 2030 and be net zero as a business by 2050. It is accelerating the UK’s decarbonisation efforts, providing the solutions, assets and infrastructure to support the electrification of the economy.